Oklahoma Center for the Book. 2000 Oklahoma Book Award Program.

Oklahoma
Book Awards 2000
A Celebration of Oklahoma
Books and Authors
Books Are Forever
March 11, 2000
National Cowboy Hall of Fame
and Western Heritage Center
Oklahoma City
Welcome
to the
11th Annual
Oklahoma Book Awards
Ceremony
Oklahoma Book Awards 2000
Welcome............................................................................................Liz Codding.
President, Oklahoma Center for the Book
Master of Ceremonies..................................................................Dan Blanchard.
Past President, Oklahoma Center for the Book
2000 Ralph Ellison Award
Presented to Jim Thompson Robert Polito.
Author of Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson
Distinguished Service Award Presentation John Wooley.
Entertainment Writer, Tulsa World
Poetry Award Presentation............................................................... Teresa Miller.
Director, Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers
Fiction Award Presentation ��� Rilla Askew.
Recipient of 1993 and 1998 Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction
Children/Young Adult Award Presentation ���������� Bettie Estes-Rickner.
Director, Information Technology, Putnam City Schools
Design/Illustration Award Presentation �������������������������� David Clark.
Managing Editor, World Literature Today
Non-Fiction Award Presentation ����������� Ann DeFrange.
Columnist, The Daily Oklahoman
2000 Lifetime Achievement Award.......................................... Gerry Willingham
Presented to Bill Wallace Retired Library Media Services Director, Putnam City Schools.
Donna Bigby.
Library Media Specialist, Dennis Elementary School.
Putnam City Schools
Announcements............................................................................ Glenda Carlile.
Executive Director, Oklahoma Center for the Book
You are invited to an after-party at Full Circle Books, 50 Penn Place
immediately following tonight’s ceremony.
Jim Thompson
Recipient of the
2000 Ralph Ellison Award
Born September 27, 1906, Anadarko native James Meyers Thompson used his
experience—growing up in the Depression, working the Texas oil fields, gambling,
and drinking—to become renowned as one of this country’s finest pulp novelists.
Thompson found an original voice in the crime genre. The darkness of his vision
quickly set him apart from others in the field. Possibly Thompson’s best known
novel–The Killer Inside Me–is the story of a doomed small-town sheriff unable to
control his blood lust as circumstances compel him to kill and kill again. Thompson
authored no fewer than 29 novels. A number of his books have been made (and
remade) into movies, including The Killer Inside Me, The Getaway, Coup de Torchon
(based on Thompson’s Pop. 1280), The Grifters, and After Dark, My Sweet.
Known as a journalist, as well as fiction writer, Thompson directed the Federal
Writers Project in Oklahoma during the 1930s, and later worked for the New York
Daily News and Los Angeles Times Mirror.
In the mid-fifties, Thompson began working in Hollywood. He worked with Stanley
Kubrick on screenplays for two of the director’s seminal films, The Killing and Paths
of Glory. Despite a promising beginning, Thompson’s remaining film career was
marked by unproduced screenplays, and some writing for undistinguished televi-sion
series. These years were marred by alcoholism and chronicled in his works The
Alcoholics and Bad Boy.
When he died April 7, 1977, at the age of 71, none of Thompson’s novels
remained in-print in this country. However, critical opinion of his novels has grown
steadily since his death. Today, Jim Thompson’s work is considered alongside that
of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain—writing that tran-scends
genre.
The Ralph Ellison Award
From time to time, the Ralph Ellison Award, honoring a deceased Oklahoma
writer, is presented. The award is named after the first recipient, Ralph Ellison,
who received the award in 1995. The 1997 recipient was Angie Debo. Melvin B.
Tolson was honored in 1998.
Ken Jackson
Recipient of the
Distinguished Service Award
This award is given in recognition for many years of dedication to Oklahoma writ-ers
and to preserving the literary heritage of Oklahoma. Jackson was an accom-plished
author and newspaper man—editor and columnist. He worked for the Tulsa
World during most of his career. This award is in recognition, too, for Ken’s service
to the Oklahoma Center for the Book as a member of the Board of Directors from
1988 to his death February 6 of this year.
Poetry
(Ado) Ration—Diane Glancy—Chax Press
Glancy’s writing is familiar to Oklahomans as she has previously been a finalist in fiction, non-fiction
and poetry categories of this competition. This year she is also a finalist in the fiction
category. Glancy is associate professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she
teaches Native American Literature and Creative Writing. Glancy in (Ado) Ration writes about
the human experience within the context of Native American and Spiritual themes.
Dowsing for Light—Kennette Harrison—Elk River Review Press
“Harrison reminds us that loss and longing are intertwined with joy in the ivied garden of the
Spirit,” says Sandra Soli, a fellow Oklahoma poet. “Through these poems, a gate opens where
doubters can vanish darkness by ‘dowsing for light’.” Harrison received a master’s degree in
English/Creative Studies from the University of Central Oklahoma. Her work has appeared in
many literary magazines.
In the Bear’s House—N. Scott Momaday—St. Martin’s Press
Momaday is known for his unique connection to the beauty and spirituality of the natural world.
This book reflects his intensely personal quest to understand the spirit of the wilderness embod-ied
in the animal image of Bear. The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for House Made of Dawn,
Momaday received the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. He is a native of
Lawton and currently lives in New Mexico.
First Light: An Anthology of Paraguayan Women Writers­edited
by Susan Smith Nash—Texture Press
This anthology of Paraguayan women writers is the culmination of more than two years of
research and investigation of history, art, and literature of this culture. The poetry was edited,
translated and accompanied by a critical introduction by Norman author and poet Susan Smith
Nash. Nash is currently director of engineering and geosciences programs for the University of
Oklahoma College of Continuing Education.
“Harlem Gallery” and Other Poems of Melvin B. Tolson
edited by Raymond Nelson—University Press of Virginia
Melvin B. Tolson (1898-1966) is recognized as one of America’s finest poets. He won
numerous poetry awards and was named Poet Laureate of Liberia in 1947. In 1966 he stated:
“I as a black poet, have absorbed the Great Ideas of the Great White World and interpreted
them in the melting pot idiom of my people. My roots are in Africa, Europe and America.“ This
2000 Oklahoma Book Award Finalists
complete collection of his works was edited by Raymond Nelson, arts and science Professor
of English at the University of Virginia. Tolson received the Ralph Ellison Award from the
Oklahoma Center for the Book in 1998.
Every Other One
Francine Ringold-Johnson and Manly Johnson—Coman and Associates
The editors of Nimrod International Journal, this husband and wife team are both well known
individually as writers, performers, editors, and poets. They have shared writing and life side-by-
side with six children, five grandchildren and many friends and relations. In this collaborative
writing they look forward and back and take a close look at each moment. Ringold-Johnson
won the 1996 Oklahoma Book Award for poetry.
Fiction
Dark Justice—William Bernhardt—Ballantine Books
With the seventh book in the “Justice” Series, Bernhardt has drawn acclaim as “a master of the
courtroom drama.” Bernhardt has received awards both as an attorney and as an author. In
1993, he was named one of the top twenty-five young lawyers in the nation. He has been an
Oklahoma Book Award finalist seven times, winning in 1995 for Perfect Justice. Bernhardt, wife
Kirsten, and their children Harry and Alice live in Tulsa.
Oklahoma Run—Alberta Wilson Constant—Lincoln County Historical Society
First published in 1955, Alberta Wilson Constant’s book has assumed a place among the liter-ary
classics of Oklahoma. In celebration of Oklahoma’s Diamond Jubilee of Statehood in 1982
the book was reissued by the Oklahoma Historical Society. Out of print for many years, the
book was reissued by the Children’s Historical Resource Center, a branch of the Lincoln County
Historical Society.
Succubus—Paul F. Fernald—Sterling House Publishers
An emotional courtroom drama that allows the reader to examine one of today’s most compel-ling
issues: Are years of mental and physical abuse a justifiable reason for murder? Succubus
illustrates Oklahoma City author and attorney Fernald’s 28 years of trial experience. This is
Fernald’s first novel.
The Voice That Was in Travel—Diane Glancy—University of Oklahoma Press
In twenty stories that range in length from one-page vignettes to novellas, Glancy expresses
the sense of displacement American Indian travelers endure. She reveals striking insights into
contemporary American Indian life. Glancy, who is Cherokee, formerly lived in Oklahoma and
was an artist-in residence at the Oklahoma Arts Council.
A Prayer for the Dying—Stewart O’Nan—Henry Holt and Company
Dark, poetic, and chilling, this book asks if it’s possible to be a good man in a time of mad-
ness. Author Robert O’Connor describes it as “the rarest of books: a philosophical horror
novel.” Considered one of America’s finest young authors, O’Nan has been a finalist for four
Oklahoma Books Awards and won in 1997 for The Names of the Dead. A former University of
Central Oklahoma professor, O’Nan lives in Connecticut.
The Bingo Queens of Paradise—June Park—Harper Collins
This first novel by Oklahoma City resident June Park is described as a tour de force that lyri-cally
blends a powerful comic voice with a poignant tale of a woman who longs to escape her
life and follow her dreams. Born and educated in London, this mother of three lives with her
husband, her mother, and a dachshund named Sooner. The debut of her first book was bit-tersweet.
Two days before the book arrived in Oklahoma City, her house was destroyed by the
May 3rd tornado. She managed to save the disk containing the beginnings of her second book.
Falling Dark—Tim Tharp—Milkweed Editions
Winner of the 1999 Milkweed National Fiction Prize, this novel takes place in a small Okla-homa
town. Diminished expectations, teenage love, small-town blues, and neighborhood bul-lies
flourish amid strip joints, honky-tonks, gas stations, and the Git-n-Go convenience store.
Tharp teaches composition and speech at Oklahoma State University, Okmulgee.
Children/Young Adult
Buffalo Dreams—Kim Doner—Westwinds Press
Doner, an author and illustrator of numerous books for children, is a native Oklahoman who
lives in Tulsa. Buffalo Dreams is a story about the legend of the white buffalo, and a spontane-ous
pilgrimage of the Bearpaw family to take gifts to a white buffalo calf.
Brief Garland: Ponytails, Basketball, and Nothing but Net.
Harold Keith—Eakin Press
This is a story about a man, Coach Jim, forced to coach a girls’ athletic team in Oklahoma,
only to find that “he loves it and never wants to coach boys’ athletics again.” Coach Jim is the
nephew of the late Harold Keith. Keith, who won the 1958 Newbery Medal for Rifles for Watie,
was recipient of the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.
Head Above Water—S. L. Rottman—Freestone
A sensitive exploration about conflicting desires and responsibilities frame a teenager’s growth
into adulthood. Rottman is a high school English teacher and a swim coach in Colorado
Springs. She has taught in Oklahoma, and she dedicates this book to the Deer Creek Class of
2002. Rottman won the Oklahoma Book Award in 1998 for Hero.
Letters from Vinnie—Maureen Stack Sappèy—Front Street Books
Sappèy, working from extensive research into the real life of Vinnie Ream, gives her a voice
that is eloquent, impassioned, and deeply human. Ream, in her late teens, began sculpting the
statue of Abraham Lincoln that stands today in the Rotunda of the Capitol. Sappèy says she
has always admired those who courageously pursue their dreams with hands, heart, and soul.
Vinnie Ream was such a person. Sappèy lives in Chestertown, Maryland. The Oklahoma town
of Vinita was named for Ms. Ream.
The Buffalo Train Ride—Desiree Morrison Webber—Eakin Press
At the plea of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker to President Theodore Roosevelt, a wildlife pre-serve
was established in Oklahoma Territory in 1905. Fifteen buffalo from the New York Zoo-logical
Society were loaded onto a train for a “wild and woolly” 1,800-mile trip to Oklahoma
in order to replenish the lost herds. Webber is a public library consultant for the Oklahoma
Department of Libraries. She lives in Bethany.
Design/Illustration
Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition.
Designed by Carl Brune—Philbrook Museum of Art
This book is a catalog of an exhibition organized and curated by the Philbrook Museum in
Tulsa. The exhibition examined American landscape painting in the second half of the 20th
century, presenting the works of 89 artists. A native of Enid, Oklahoma, Brune has worked at
the Philbrook for 17 years, where he is currently Graphics and Publications Manager.
Buffalo Dreams—Illustrated by Kim Doner—Westwinds Press
As an artist Doner is acclaimed for her warmth and richly authentic detail. Doner, who also
wrote the text for this volume, is a finalist in the Children/Young Adult category. Doner received
the Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration in 1996 for Green Snake Ceremony.
Glory Days of Summer: The History of Baseball in Oklahoma.
Designed by Carol Haralson—Oklahoma Heritage Association
This comprehensive volume has hundreds of photos and articles about the great ball players
who passed through Oklahoma. According to the book’s writers Burke, Franks, and Parr,
designer Haralson “took stacks of printed word and hundreds of photos and created a mas-terpiece.”
A former Tulsa resident (who now lives in Sedona, Arizona), Haralson has won the
Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration a record four times.
Summertime, from Porgy and Bess.
Illustrated by Mike Wimmer—Simon & Schuster
Nothing seems to capture the feelings of summer better than the much-loved song “Summer-time.”
Acclaimed illustrator Wimmer’s lush oil paintings depicting a family’s routine one summer
day earlier in this century, this American classic takes on a whole new meaning. Wimmer won
the Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration in 1995. He lives in Norman.
Nonfiction
Native American Style.
Elmo Baca and M.J. Van Deventer—Gibbs-Smith Publisher
A view of Native American art and philosophy, this volume includes information about many
tribes, from South America to the Pueblo dwellers. Many photographs and stories of utilitarian
and religious objects are included. This book explores the significance of Bacone, the University
of Oklahoma, and Philbrook art programs. Baca is director of New Mexico’s Main Street Pro-gram,
a writer and historic preservationist. Van Deventer is editor of Persimmon Hill and director
of publications for the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma
Countryside 1904-1920—Jim Bissett—University of Oklahoma Press
This provocative book is a chronicle of the rise and fall of Marxian Socialism in Oklahoma.
From 1900 to 1920, Oklahoma “supported the most vigorous, ambitious, and fascinating
socialist movement of all ... a remarkable movement ... that successfully elected its candidates
to a myriad of state and local offices.” The rapid demise of the party came with the hysteria
and repression of the war years. Bissett is associate professor of history at Elon College, North
Carolina.
Glory Days of Summer: The History of Baseball in Oklahoma.
Bob Burke, Kenny A. Franks, and Royse Parr—Oklahoma Heritage Association
In nearly 500 pages, the authors present some of the legendary baseball players with connec-tions
to Oklahoma: Mickey Mantle, Warren Spahn, Carl Hubbell, Lloyd and Paul Waner, and
Dizzy and Daffy Dean. One in ten of the 14,000 men who have played major league baseball
since 1876 have come through Oklahoma, and the details of their careers are included. Burke
is an Oklahoma City lawyer and writer who received the 1999 Oklahoma Book Award for Non-fiction.
Kenny Franks is one of Oklahoma’s most published historians. He is Director of Educa-tion
and Publications for the Oklahoma Heritage Association. A retired oil company attorney,
Parr lives in Tulsa, and is an active member of the Society of American Baseball Research.
The National Congress of American Indians: The Founding Years.
Thomas W. Cowger—University of Nebraska Press
The first full-length history of the NCAI, Cowger presents the story of the founding of the orga-nization
in 1944 and its first two decades. The NCAI had a leading role in stimulating Native
political awareness and activism. The NCAI provided a forum for debates about vital issues
affecting reservations and tribes, including litigation efforts, and lobbying activities. The organi-zation
fought against governmental efforts to end the reservation system. The NCAI continues
today to steer a moderate course bringing together many tribal peoples. Cowger is assistant
professor of history at East Central University in Ada.
Horizontal Yellow: Nature and History in the Near Southwest.
Dan Flores—University of New Mexico Press
Flores explores the human and natural history of the area that includes New Mexico, Texas,
Oklahoma, and parts of Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas and Louisiana. The Horizontal Yellow is
a Navajo term for the yellowed grass landscape of the region. Flores suggests that the region
shares a common watershed, a common history, and a common sensory impression—a char-acteristic
topography he describes as “one of the grandest, most windswept landscapes of
plains, tablelands, and deserts on the planet.” Flores is the A.B. Hammond professor of history
at the University of Montana in Missoula.
The Cherokees and their Chiefs: In the Wake of Empire
Stanley Hoig—University of Arkansas Press
Hoig traces the demise of the Cherokees’ historic homeland in the American South, their
removal to present-day Oklahoma, the final destruction of their tribal autonomy, and then rise
in political and social stature during the 20th Century. Hoig is Professor Emeritus of Journalism
at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. In 1991, he won the Oklahoma Book Award
for children’s literature, for A Capitol for the Nation.
A Passion for Equality: The Life of Jimmy Stewart.
Vicki Miles-LaGrange and Bob Burke—Oklahoma Heritage Association
For more than 50 years, one of the undisputed leaders of integration efforts in Oklahoma,
Jimmy Stewart started his professional career as a janitor at Oklahoma Natural Gas in 1937.
He retired from the company as assistant to the vice president. He worked to produce a better
life for those afflicted with poverty as a national leader of the NAACP during the times of school
desegregation and integration. The book provides a wealth of information about the man and
his times. Miles-LaGrange is U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. Burke is
a lawyer and historian. Bob Burke received the 1999 Book Award for Nonfiction.
Peyote Religious Art: Symbols of Faith and Belief.
Daniel C. Swan—University Press of Mississippi
The peyotists, controversial and misunderstood, have been the targets of discrimination from
missionaries, government officials, and politicians. A religion based on the ritual consumption of
the peyote cactus emerged in the 1870s on the Southern Plains. Its elaborate ceremony gained
converts on the reservations of the southwestern Indian Territory, modern-day Oklahoma, and
quickly spread to other tribes in Oklahoma and the surrounding region. An explanation of
the origins, beliefs, and practices of the Native American Church and the peyote sacrament is
given. Swan is senior curator at the Gilcrease Museum and has published numerous articles on
the peyote religion.
The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West.
Michael Wallis—St. Martin’s Press
“The enthralling history of one of the wildest ranch empires of the American frontier and the birth
of the western motion picture industry,” Wallis’ work was 10 years in the making. It is “nothing
less than a sweeping history of the West of myth and reality.” This work chronicles the life of
Col. George Washington Miller, founder of the 101 Ranch. The book follows Miller’s migration
from Kentucky through Missouri and Kansas, and into the Cherokee Outlet, where he located
the world-famous ranch on the banks of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, near Ponca City.
Wallis, who lives in Tulsa, is an award-winning historian of the West, and recipient of the Arrell
Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.
George Washington Grayson and the Creek Nation 1843-1920.
Mary Jane Warde—University of Oklahoma Press
Grayson served as leader of the Creek Nation for sixty years. He was a Confederate soldier,
pioneer merchant, rancher, newspaper publisher, and town builder. Warde’s work is the first
extended study of Creek history since Debo’s classic The Road to Disappearance, in 1941.
Warde is Indian historian at the Oklahoma Historical Society. She received her Ph.D. in history
from Oklahoma State University.
Bill Wallace
Recipient of the
2000 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, in 1947, William Keith Wallace started out his working
life as a teacher. In 1971, after graduating with a degree in elementary education, Wal-lace
began teaching school in his hometown. He taught kindergarten and fourth grade
classes. After earning a Masters degree in Elementary Administration, Wallace served as an
assistant principal, and eventually as principal of West Elementary in Chickasha. Along the
way, Wallace studied professional writing with William Foster-Harris and Dwight Swain at
the University of Oklahoma.
A prolific writer, Bill Wallace has written or co-written 25 novels for young people. With
titles like The Biggest Klutz in Fifth Grade, The Great Escape (Upchuck and the Rotten Willy),
and Snot Stew, his books have been popular from the beginning.
In 1983, Wallace received the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children’s Book Award for his book
A Dog Called Kitty. The novel written for young people went on to win the Texas Bluebonnet
Award in 1983, and the Nebraska Golden Sower Award in 1985. Over the years, Wallace
has received writing awards from seventeen different states, including a second Sequoyah
award in 1991 for Beauty. Watchdog and the Coyotes was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book
Award in 1996, and Aloha Summer was a finalist in 1998.
In 1988, Wallace intended to take one year off from teaching—he never returned.
Instead, he began a new career as an extremely popular speaker in schools and at confer-ences
throughout the United States. Teachers, librarians, and grandparents appreciate his
candor and openness. Children seem to respond to his obvious enthusiasm for story telling
and writing.
His wife Carol, also a former elementary schoolteacher, has co-authored with Wallace
The Flying Flea, Callie and Me and That Furball Puppy and Me. The Wallaces have three
children and two granddaughters. Daughter Nikki Wallace is author of Stubby and the
Puppy Pack.
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award is presented each year to a
person recognized for a body of work. This award was named for the Norman
historian who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Officers and Board of Directors
President­—
Liz Codding—Edmond
Vice-President—B.J. Williams—Oklahoma City
Secretary—Joyce Pipps—Shawnee
Treasurer—Gerry Willingham—Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress, and is organized to focus attention on the vital role of books and
reading in our lives. The Center promotes the past, current, and future works of Oklahoma
authors; promotes the literary heritage of the state; and encourages reading for pleasure by
Oklahomans of all ages.
When the Library of Congress announced the granting of permission to States to become
part of their program, the Oklahoma Department of Libraries assembled an advisory group
and wrote a proposal. The Oklahoma Center for the Book became the fourth state center
on February 28, 1986.
The Center is governed by a 30-member, volunteer board of directors from across the state.
Gale Bollinger—Oklahoma City
Diane Canavan—Shawnee
David Clark—Norman
Robert L. Clark—Oklahoma City
Aarone Corwin—Midwest City
Kim Doner—Tulsa
Bettie Estes-Rickner—Mustang
Julia Fresonke—Oklahoma City
Ann Hamilton—Edmond
Mort Hamilton—Ardmore
George Henderson—Norman
Joe Holmes—Oklahoma City
Julie Hovis—Edmond
Glenda Madden—Norman
Bill McCloud—Pryor
Lynn McIntosh—Ardmore
Teresa Miller—Tulsa
Anna Myers—Chandler
Marcia Preston—Edmond
Diane Seabass—Tulsa
Dean Sims—Tulsa
Sue Stees—Tulsa
Laurie Sundborg—Tulsa
M.J. Van Deventer—Oklahoma City
John Wooley—Tulsa
William R. Young—Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA
CENTER FOR THE BOOK
Oklahoma Center for the Book
Project Highlights
The Oklahoma Center for the Book in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries has participated
in several events in the past twelve months, and has made commitments for events later
this year.
Kids Caught Reading is an annual activity of the Center, and is part of Oklahoma’s Celebra-tion
of Reading (formerly known as National Young Readers Day). The Center will once again
give $25 prizes to ten students from across the state who are caught reading in their spare
time. The prizes will be presented at the Celebration of Reading on April 7, 2000 at the
Lazy-E Arena.
In another program which involves children, the center is cosponsoring, for the sixth year, the
Letters about Literature competition. Nationally promoted by Weekly Reader and the Center
for the Book in the Library of Congress, students in grades 6 through 12 are asked to write
letters to the author of a book that affected them in some way. The Center awards a total of
$250 to writers of the top five letters.
The Center worked with the Center for Poets and Writers in Tulsa during the Celebration of
Books in September. 1999 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Wallis
was featured in a program about the West with singer Michael Martin Murphy.
The Oklahoma Center for the Book is also providing funds to the Oklahoma Library Associa-tion
to sponsor author George Henderson as keynote speaker during their annual conference,
April 26- 29, 2000.
The Center continues to provide authors to libraries and schools, and plans to initiate an
Oklahoma Authors database on the organization’s website.
The Center's website address is www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb
Previous Oklahoma
Fiction
1990, Robert Love Taylor, The Lost Sister
1991, Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit
1992, Robert L. Duncan, The Serpent's Mark
1993, Rilla Askew, Strange Business
1994, Eve Sandstrom, Down Home Heifer Heist
1995, William Bernhardt, Perfect Justice
1996, Billie Letts, Where the Heart Is
1997, Stewart O’Nan, The Names of the Dead
1998, Rilla Askew, The Mercy Seat
1999, Billie Letts, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon
Non-Fiction
1990, Leonard Leff, Hitchcock & Selznick
1991, Carl Albert and Danney Goble, Little Giant
1992, David Morgan, Robert England, and George Humphreys,
Oklahoma Politics & Policies: Governing the Sooner State
1993, Henry Bellmon and Pat Bellmon, The Life and Times of Henry Bellmon;
and Daniel Boorstin, The Creators
1994, J. Brent Clark, 3rd Down and Forever
1995, Dennis McAuliffe Jr., The Deaths of Sybil Bolton
1996, William Paul Winchester, A Very Small Farm
1997, Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass
1998, John Hope Franklin and John Whittington Franklin,
Editors, My Life and an Era: The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin
1999, Bob Burke, From Oklahoma to Eternity: The Life of Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae
Children/ Young Adult
1990, Helen Roney Sattler, Tyrannosaurus Rex and His Kin
1991, Stan Hoig, A Capitol for the Nation
1992, Jess and Bonnie Speer, Hillback to Boggy
1993, Anna Myers, Red Dirt Jessie
1994, Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, Cherokee Summer
1995, Russell G. Davis and Brent Ashabranner, The Choctaw Code
1996, Anna Myers, Graveyard Girl
1997, Barbara Snow Gilbert, Stone Water
1998, S. L. Rottman, Hero
1999, Barbara Snow Gilbert, Broken Chords
Poetry
1990, William Kistler, The Elizabeth Sequence
1992, Carol Hamilton, Once the Dust
1993, Jim Barnes, The Sawdust War
1994, Carter Revard, An Eagle Nation
1995, Joy Harjo, The Woman Who Fell from the Sky
1996, Francine Leffler Ringold-Johnson, The Trouble with Voices
1997, Renata Treitel, translation of Rosita Copioli’s The Blazing Lights of the Sun
1998, Betty Shipley, Somebody Say Amen
1999, Mark Cox, Thirty-Seven Years from the Stone
Design/ Illustration
1990, David E. Hunt, The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson
1991, Carol Haralson, Cleora's Kitchens
1992, Joe Williams, Woolaroc
1993, Carol Haralson, Will Rogers: Courtship and Correspondence;
and Kandy Radzinski, The Twelve Cats of Christmas
1994, Deloss McGraw, Fish Story
1995, Mike Wimmer, All the Places to Love
1996, Kim Doner, Green Snake Ceremony
1997, Carol Haralson and Harvey Payne, Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass
1998, Carol Haralson, Visions and Voices:
Native American Painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art
1999, David Fitzgerald, Bison: Monarch of the Plains
Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
1990, Daniel Boorstin, Librarian of Congress Emeritus, native of Tulsa
1991, Tony Hillerman, mystery writer, native of Sacred Heart
1992, Savoie Lottinville, Director of the University of Oklahoma Press for 30 years
1993, Harold Keith, Newbery Award winning children's author, Norman
1994, N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize winning Kiowa author, native of Lawton
1995, R.A. Lafferty, Hugo Award winning author, Tulsa
1996, John Hope Franklin, historian, native of Rentiesville
1997, S.E. Hinton, award winning author of young adult novels, Tulsa
1998, Jack Bickham, novelist, teacher and journalist, Norman
1999, Michael Wallis, award-winning historian and biographer, Tulsa
Ralph Ellison Award
1995, Ralph Ellison, National Book Award winner, Oklahoma City
1997, Angie Debo, “First Lady of Oklahoma History,” Marshall
1999, Melvin Tolson, poet, journalist, and dramatist, Langston
Book Award Winners
The Oklahoma Center for the Book wishes to thank
the judges for the 2000 competition:
Dan Blanchard
Mary Ann Blochowiak
David Clark
Evelyn Davis
Bettie Estes-Rickner
Kathryn Fanning
Christopher Givans
Ann Hamilton
Mort Hamilton
Joe Holmes
Gayle Jones
Kathy Latrobe
Louisa McCune
Denis McGilvray
Donna Norvell
Judith Tate O’Brien
Dee Pierce
Kitty Pittman
Byron Price
Diane Seebass
Dewayne Smoot
William Struby
Leah Taylor
James R. Tolbert III
Mary Woodman
The Center acknowledges the generous
contributions of the following
organizations and individuals:
Archives Division, Oklahoma Historical Society
Best of Books, Edmond
Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Dunlap, Codding and Rogers Patent Law Firm
Friends of the Metropolitan Library System
Full Circle Books, Oklahoma City
Joe & Billie Holmes
Metropolitan Library System
National Cowboy Hall of Fame
and Western Heritage Center
Oklahoma City Hilton Hotel Northwest
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Oklahoma Independent Booksellers Association
Steve’s Books, Tulsa
Special thanks to...
Marcia Preston, Ceremony Chair, and.
committee members Gail Bollinger, Liz Codding, Julia
Fresonke, and M.J. Van Deventer
Ann Hamilton, Program Chair and Audio-visual Producer
Public Information Office—Oklahoma Department of Libraries:
Thelma Burchfiel, Bill Petrie, Bill Struby,
and Bill Young
OKLAHOMA
CENTER FOR THE BOOK
200 Northeast 18 Street
Oklahoma City
OK 73105-3298
www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb • 1-800-522-8116

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Oklahoma
Book Awards 2000
A Celebration of Oklahoma
Books and Authors
Books Are Forever
March 11, 2000
National Cowboy Hall of Fame
and Western Heritage Center
Oklahoma City
Welcome
to the
11th Annual
Oklahoma Book Awards
Ceremony
Oklahoma Book Awards 2000
Welcome............................................................................................Liz Codding.
President, Oklahoma Center for the Book
Master of Ceremonies..................................................................Dan Blanchard.
Past President, Oklahoma Center for the Book
2000 Ralph Ellison Award
Presented to Jim Thompson Robert Polito.
Author of Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson
Distinguished Service Award Presentation John Wooley.
Entertainment Writer, Tulsa World
Poetry Award Presentation............................................................... Teresa Miller.
Director, Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers
Fiction Award Presentation ��� Rilla Askew.
Recipient of 1993 and 1998 Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction
Children/Young Adult Award Presentation ���������� Bettie Estes-Rickner.
Director, Information Technology, Putnam City Schools
Design/Illustration Award Presentation �������������������������� David Clark.
Managing Editor, World Literature Today
Non-Fiction Award Presentation ����������� Ann DeFrange.
Columnist, The Daily Oklahoman
2000 Lifetime Achievement Award.......................................... Gerry Willingham
Presented to Bill Wallace Retired Library Media Services Director, Putnam City Schools.
Donna Bigby.
Library Media Specialist, Dennis Elementary School.
Putnam City Schools
Announcements............................................................................ Glenda Carlile.
Executive Director, Oklahoma Center for the Book
You are invited to an after-party at Full Circle Books, 50 Penn Place
immediately following tonight’s ceremony.
Jim Thompson
Recipient of the
2000 Ralph Ellison Award
Born September 27, 1906, Anadarko native James Meyers Thompson used his
experience—growing up in the Depression, working the Texas oil fields, gambling,
and drinking—to become renowned as one of this country’s finest pulp novelists.
Thompson found an original voice in the crime genre. The darkness of his vision
quickly set him apart from others in the field. Possibly Thompson’s best known
novel–The Killer Inside Me–is the story of a doomed small-town sheriff unable to
control his blood lust as circumstances compel him to kill and kill again. Thompson
authored no fewer than 29 novels. A number of his books have been made (and
remade) into movies, including The Killer Inside Me, The Getaway, Coup de Torchon
(based on Thompson’s Pop. 1280), The Grifters, and After Dark, My Sweet.
Known as a journalist, as well as fiction writer, Thompson directed the Federal
Writers Project in Oklahoma during the 1930s, and later worked for the New York
Daily News and Los Angeles Times Mirror.
In the mid-fifties, Thompson began working in Hollywood. He worked with Stanley
Kubrick on screenplays for two of the director’s seminal films, The Killing and Paths
of Glory. Despite a promising beginning, Thompson’s remaining film career was
marked by unproduced screenplays, and some writing for undistinguished televi-sion
series. These years were marred by alcoholism and chronicled in his works The
Alcoholics and Bad Boy.
When he died April 7, 1977, at the age of 71, none of Thompson’s novels
remained in-print in this country. However, critical opinion of his novels has grown
steadily since his death. Today, Jim Thompson’s work is considered alongside that
of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain—writing that tran-scends
genre.
The Ralph Ellison Award
From time to time, the Ralph Ellison Award, honoring a deceased Oklahoma
writer, is presented. The award is named after the first recipient, Ralph Ellison,
who received the award in 1995. The 1997 recipient was Angie Debo. Melvin B.
Tolson was honored in 1998.
Ken Jackson
Recipient of the
Distinguished Service Award
This award is given in recognition for many years of dedication to Oklahoma writ-ers
and to preserving the literary heritage of Oklahoma. Jackson was an accom-plished
author and newspaper man—editor and columnist. He worked for the Tulsa
World during most of his career. This award is in recognition, too, for Ken’s service
to the Oklahoma Center for the Book as a member of the Board of Directors from
1988 to his death February 6 of this year.
Poetry
(Ado) Ration—Diane Glancy—Chax Press
Glancy’s writing is familiar to Oklahomans as she has previously been a finalist in fiction, non-fiction
and poetry categories of this competition. This year she is also a finalist in the fiction
category. Glancy is associate professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she
teaches Native American Literature and Creative Writing. Glancy in (Ado) Ration writes about
the human experience within the context of Native American and Spiritual themes.
Dowsing for Light—Kennette Harrison—Elk River Review Press
“Harrison reminds us that loss and longing are intertwined with joy in the ivied garden of the
Spirit,” says Sandra Soli, a fellow Oklahoma poet. “Through these poems, a gate opens where
doubters can vanish darkness by ‘dowsing for light’.” Harrison received a master’s degree in
English/Creative Studies from the University of Central Oklahoma. Her work has appeared in
many literary magazines.
In the Bear’s House—N. Scott Momaday—St. Martin’s Press
Momaday is known for his unique connection to the beauty and spirituality of the natural world.
This book reflects his intensely personal quest to understand the spirit of the wilderness embod-ied
in the animal image of Bear. The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for House Made of Dawn,
Momaday received the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. He is a native of
Lawton and currently lives in New Mexico.
First Light: An Anthology of Paraguayan Women Writers­edited
by Susan Smith Nash—Texture Press
This anthology of Paraguayan women writers is the culmination of more than two years of
research and investigation of history, art, and literature of this culture. The poetry was edited,
translated and accompanied by a critical introduction by Norman author and poet Susan Smith
Nash. Nash is currently director of engineering and geosciences programs for the University of
Oklahoma College of Continuing Education.
“Harlem Gallery” and Other Poems of Melvin B. Tolson
edited by Raymond Nelson—University Press of Virginia
Melvin B. Tolson (1898-1966) is recognized as one of America’s finest poets. He won
numerous poetry awards and was named Poet Laureate of Liberia in 1947. In 1966 he stated:
“I as a black poet, have absorbed the Great Ideas of the Great White World and interpreted
them in the melting pot idiom of my people. My roots are in Africa, Europe and America.“ This
2000 Oklahoma Book Award Finalists
complete collection of his works was edited by Raymond Nelson, arts and science Professor
of English at the University of Virginia. Tolson received the Ralph Ellison Award from the
Oklahoma Center for the Book in 1998.
Every Other One
Francine Ringold-Johnson and Manly Johnson—Coman and Associates
The editors of Nimrod International Journal, this husband and wife team are both well known
individually as writers, performers, editors, and poets. They have shared writing and life side-by-
side with six children, five grandchildren and many friends and relations. In this collaborative
writing they look forward and back and take a close look at each moment. Ringold-Johnson
won the 1996 Oklahoma Book Award for poetry.
Fiction
Dark Justice—William Bernhardt—Ballantine Books
With the seventh book in the “Justice” Series, Bernhardt has drawn acclaim as “a master of the
courtroom drama.” Bernhardt has received awards both as an attorney and as an author. In
1993, he was named one of the top twenty-five young lawyers in the nation. He has been an
Oklahoma Book Award finalist seven times, winning in 1995 for Perfect Justice. Bernhardt, wife
Kirsten, and their children Harry and Alice live in Tulsa.
Oklahoma Run—Alberta Wilson Constant—Lincoln County Historical Society
First published in 1955, Alberta Wilson Constant’s book has assumed a place among the liter-ary
classics of Oklahoma. In celebration of Oklahoma’s Diamond Jubilee of Statehood in 1982
the book was reissued by the Oklahoma Historical Society. Out of print for many years, the
book was reissued by the Children’s Historical Resource Center, a branch of the Lincoln County
Historical Society.
Succubus—Paul F. Fernald—Sterling House Publishers
An emotional courtroom drama that allows the reader to examine one of today’s most compel-ling
issues: Are years of mental and physical abuse a justifiable reason for murder? Succubus
illustrates Oklahoma City author and attorney Fernald’s 28 years of trial experience. This is
Fernald’s first novel.
The Voice That Was in Travel—Diane Glancy—University of Oklahoma Press
In twenty stories that range in length from one-page vignettes to novellas, Glancy expresses
the sense of displacement American Indian travelers endure. She reveals striking insights into
contemporary American Indian life. Glancy, who is Cherokee, formerly lived in Oklahoma and
was an artist-in residence at the Oklahoma Arts Council.
A Prayer for the Dying—Stewart O’Nan—Henry Holt and Company
Dark, poetic, and chilling, this book asks if it’s possible to be a good man in a time of mad-
ness. Author Robert O’Connor describes it as “the rarest of books: a philosophical horror
novel.” Considered one of America’s finest young authors, O’Nan has been a finalist for four
Oklahoma Books Awards and won in 1997 for The Names of the Dead. A former University of
Central Oklahoma professor, O’Nan lives in Connecticut.
The Bingo Queens of Paradise—June Park—Harper Collins
This first novel by Oklahoma City resident June Park is described as a tour de force that lyri-cally
blends a powerful comic voice with a poignant tale of a woman who longs to escape her
life and follow her dreams. Born and educated in London, this mother of three lives with her
husband, her mother, and a dachshund named Sooner. The debut of her first book was bit-tersweet.
Two days before the book arrived in Oklahoma City, her house was destroyed by the
May 3rd tornado. She managed to save the disk containing the beginnings of her second book.
Falling Dark—Tim Tharp—Milkweed Editions
Winner of the 1999 Milkweed National Fiction Prize, this novel takes place in a small Okla-homa
town. Diminished expectations, teenage love, small-town blues, and neighborhood bul-lies
flourish amid strip joints, honky-tonks, gas stations, and the Git-n-Go convenience store.
Tharp teaches composition and speech at Oklahoma State University, Okmulgee.
Children/Young Adult
Buffalo Dreams—Kim Doner—Westwinds Press
Doner, an author and illustrator of numerous books for children, is a native Oklahoman who
lives in Tulsa. Buffalo Dreams is a story about the legend of the white buffalo, and a spontane-ous
pilgrimage of the Bearpaw family to take gifts to a white buffalo calf.
Brief Garland: Ponytails, Basketball, and Nothing but Net.
Harold Keith—Eakin Press
This is a story about a man, Coach Jim, forced to coach a girls’ athletic team in Oklahoma,
only to find that “he loves it and never wants to coach boys’ athletics again.” Coach Jim is the
nephew of the late Harold Keith. Keith, who won the 1958 Newbery Medal for Rifles for Watie,
was recipient of the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.
Head Above Water—S. L. Rottman—Freestone
A sensitive exploration about conflicting desires and responsibilities frame a teenager’s growth
into adulthood. Rottman is a high school English teacher and a swim coach in Colorado
Springs. She has taught in Oklahoma, and she dedicates this book to the Deer Creek Class of
2002. Rottman won the Oklahoma Book Award in 1998 for Hero.
Letters from Vinnie—Maureen Stack Sappèy—Front Street Books
Sappèy, working from extensive research into the real life of Vinnie Ream, gives her a voice
that is eloquent, impassioned, and deeply human. Ream, in her late teens, began sculpting the
statue of Abraham Lincoln that stands today in the Rotunda of the Capitol. Sappèy says she
has always admired those who courageously pursue their dreams with hands, heart, and soul.
Vinnie Ream was such a person. Sappèy lives in Chestertown, Maryland. The Oklahoma town
of Vinita was named for Ms. Ream.
The Buffalo Train Ride—Desiree Morrison Webber—Eakin Press
At the plea of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker to President Theodore Roosevelt, a wildlife pre-serve
was established in Oklahoma Territory in 1905. Fifteen buffalo from the New York Zoo-logical
Society were loaded onto a train for a “wild and woolly” 1,800-mile trip to Oklahoma
in order to replenish the lost herds. Webber is a public library consultant for the Oklahoma
Department of Libraries. She lives in Bethany.
Design/Illustration
Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition.
Designed by Carl Brune—Philbrook Museum of Art
This book is a catalog of an exhibition organized and curated by the Philbrook Museum in
Tulsa. The exhibition examined American landscape painting in the second half of the 20th
century, presenting the works of 89 artists. A native of Enid, Oklahoma, Brune has worked at
the Philbrook for 17 years, where he is currently Graphics and Publications Manager.
Buffalo Dreams—Illustrated by Kim Doner—Westwinds Press
As an artist Doner is acclaimed for her warmth and richly authentic detail. Doner, who also
wrote the text for this volume, is a finalist in the Children/Young Adult category. Doner received
the Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration in 1996 for Green Snake Ceremony.
Glory Days of Summer: The History of Baseball in Oklahoma.
Designed by Carol Haralson—Oklahoma Heritage Association
This comprehensive volume has hundreds of photos and articles about the great ball players
who passed through Oklahoma. According to the book’s writers Burke, Franks, and Parr,
designer Haralson “took stacks of printed word and hundreds of photos and created a mas-terpiece.”
A former Tulsa resident (who now lives in Sedona, Arizona), Haralson has won the
Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration a record four times.
Summertime, from Porgy and Bess.
Illustrated by Mike Wimmer—Simon & Schuster
Nothing seems to capture the feelings of summer better than the much-loved song “Summer-time.”
Acclaimed illustrator Wimmer’s lush oil paintings depicting a family’s routine one summer
day earlier in this century, this American classic takes on a whole new meaning. Wimmer won
the Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration in 1995. He lives in Norman.
Nonfiction
Native American Style.
Elmo Baca and M.J. Van Deventer—Gibbs-Smith Publisher
A view of Native American art and philosophy, this volume includes information about many
tribes, from South America to the Pueblo dwellers. Many photographs and stories of utilitarian
and religious objects are included. This book explores the significance of Bacone, the University
of Oklahoma, and Philbrook art programs. Baca is director of New Mexico’s Main Street Pro-gram,
a writer and historic preservationist. Van Deventer is editor of Persimmon Hill and director
of publications for the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma
Countryside 1904-1920—Jim Bissett—University of Oklahoma Press
This provocative book is a chronicle of the rise and fall of Marxian Socialism in Oklahoma.
From 1900 to 1920, Oklahoma “supported the most vigorous, ambitious, and fascinating
socialist movement of all ... a remarkable movement ... that successfully elected its candidates
to a myriad of state and local offices.” The rapid demise of the party came with the hysteria
and repression of the war years. Bissett is associate professor of history at Elon College, North
Carolina.
Glory Days of Summer: The History of Baseball in Oklahoma.
Bob Burke, Kenny A. Franks, and Royse Parr—Oklahoma Heritage Association
In nearly 500 pages, the authors present some of the legendary baseball players with connec-tions
to Oklahoma: Mickey Mantle, Warren Spahn, Carl Hubbell, Lloyd and Paul Waner, and
Dizzy and Daffy Dean. One in ten of the 14,000 men who have played major league baseball
since 1876 have come through Oklahoma, and the details of their careers are included. Burke
is an Oklahoma City lawyer and writer who received the 1999 Oklahoma Book Award for Non-fiction.
Kenny Franks is one of Oklahoma’s most published historians. He is Director of Educa-tion
and Publications for the Oklahoma Heritage Association. A retired oil company attorney,
Parr lives in Tulsa, and is an active member of the Society of American Baseball Research.
The National Congress of American Indians: The Founding Years.
Thomas W. Cowger—University of Nebraska Press
The first full-length history of the NCAI, Cowger presents the story of the founding of the orga-nization
in 1944 and its first two decades. The NCAI had a leading role in stimulating Native
political awareness and activism. The NCAI provided a forum for debates about vital issues
affecting reservations and tribes, including litigation efforts, and lobbying activities. The organi-zation
fought against governmental efforts to end the reservation system. The NCAI continues
today to steer a moderate course bringing together many tribal peoples. Cowger is assistant
professor of history at East Central University in Ada.
Horizontal Yellow: Nature and History in the Near Southwest.
Dan Flores—University of New Mexico Press
Flores explores the human and natural history of the area that includes New Mexico, Texas,
Oklahoma, and parts of Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas and Louisiana. The Horizontal Yellow is
a Navajo term for the yellowed grass landscape of the region. Flores suggests that the region
shares a common watershed, a common history, and a common sensory impression—a char-acteristic
topography he describes as “one of the grandest, most windswept landscapes of
plains, tablelands, and deserts on the planet.” Flores is the A.B. Hammond professor of history
at the University of Montana in Missoula.
The Cherokees and their Chiefs: In the Wake of Empire
Stanley Hoig—University of Arkansas Press
Hoig traces the demise of the Cherokees’ historic homeland in the American South, their
removal to present-day Oklahoma, the final destruction of their tribal autonomy, and then rise
in political and social stature during the 20th Century. Hoig is Professor Emeritus of Journalism
at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. In 1991, he won the Oklahoma Book Award
for children’s literature, for A Capitol for the Nation.
A Passion for Equality: The Life of Jimmy Stewart.
Vicki Miles-LaGrange and Bob Burke—Oklahoma Heritage Association
For more than 50 years, one of the undisputed leaders of integration efforts in Oklahoma,
Jimmy Stewart started his professional career as a janitor at Oklahoma Natural Gas in 1937.
He retired from the company as assistant to the vice president. He worked to produce a better
life for those afflicted with poverty as a national leader of the NAACP during the times of school
desegregation and integration. The book provides a wealth of information about the man and
his times. Miles-LaGrange is U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. Burke is
a lawyer and historian. Bob Burke received the 1999 Book Award for Nonfiction.
Peyote Religious Art: Symbols of Faith and Belief.
Daniel C. Swan—University Press of Mississippi
The peyotists, controversial and misunderstood, have been the targets of discrimination from
missionaries, government officials, and politicians. A religion based on the ritual consumption of
the peyote cactus emerged in the 1870s on the Southern Plains. Its elaborate ceremony gained
converts on the reservations of the southwestern Indian Territory, modern-day Oklahoma, and
quickly spread to other tribes in Oklahoma and the surrounding region. An explanation of
the origins, beliefs, and practices of the Native American Church and the peyote sacrament is
given. Swan is senior curator at the Gilcrease Museum and has published numerous articles on
the peyote religion.
The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West.
Michael Wallis—St. Martin’s Press
“The enthralling history of one of the wildest ranch empires of the American frontier and the birth
of the western motion picture industry,” Wallis’ work was 10 years in the making. It is “nothing
less than a sweeping history of the West of myth and reality.” This work chronicles the life of
Col. George Washington Miller, founder of the 101 Ranch. The book follows Miller’s migration
from Kentucky through Missouri and Kansas, and into the Cherokee Outlet, where he located
the world-famous ranch on the banks of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, near Ponca City.
Wallis, who lives in Tulsa, is an award-winning historian of the West, and recipient of the Arrell
Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.
George Washington Grayson and the Creek Nation 1843-1920.
Mary Jane Warde—University of Oklahoma Press
Grayson served as leader of the Creek Nation for sixty years. He was a Confederate soldier,
pioneer merchant, rancher, newspaper publisher, and town builder. Warde’s work is the first
extended study of Creek history since Debo’s classic The Road to Disappearance, in 1941.
Warde is Indian historian at the Oklahoma Historical Society. She received her Ph.D. in history
from Oklahoma State University.
Bill Wallace
Recipient of the
2000 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, in 1947, William Keith Wallace started out his working
life as a teacher. In 1971, after graduating with a degree in elementary education, Wal-lace
began teaching school in his hometown. He taught kindergarten and fourth grade
classes. After earning a Masters degree in Elementary Administration, Wallace served as an
assistant principal, and eventually as principal of West Elementary in Chickasha. Along the
way, Wallace studied professional writing with William Foster-Harris and Dwight Swain at
the University of Oklahoma.
A prolific writer, Bill Wallace has written or co-written 25 novels for young people. With
titles like The Biggest Klutz in Fifth Grade, The Great Escape (Upchuck and the Rotten Willy),
and Snot Stew, his books have been popular from the beginning.
In 1983, Wallace received the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children’s Book Award for his book
A Dog Called Kitty. The novel written for young people went on to win the Texas Bluebonnet
Award in 1983, and the Nebraska Golden Sower Award in 1985. Over the years, Wallace
has received writing awards from seventeen different states, including a second Sequoyah
award in 1991 for Beauty. Watchdog and the Coyotes was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book
Award in 1996, and Aloha Summer was a finalist in 1998.
In 1988, Wallace intended to take one year off from teaching—he never returned.
Instead, he began a new career as an extremely popular speaker in schools and at confer-ences
throughout the United States. Teachers, librarians, and grandparents appreciate his
candor and openness. Children seem to respond to his obvious enthusiasm for story telling
and writing.
His wife Carol, also a former elementary schoolteacher, has co-authored with Wallace
The Flying Flea, Callie and Me and That Furball Puppy and Me. The Wallaces have three
children and two granddaughters. Daughter Nikki Wallace is author of Stubby and the
Puppy Pack.
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award is presented each year to a
person recognized for a body of work. This award was named for the Norman
historian who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Officers and Board of Directors
President­—
Liz Codding—Edmond
Vice-President—B.J. Williams—Oklahoma City
Secretary—Joyce Pipps—Shawnee
Treasurer—Gerry Willingham—Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress, and is organized to focus attention on the vital role of books and
reading in our lives. The Center promotes the past, current, and future works of Oklahoma
authors; promotes the literary heritage of the state; and encourages reading for pleasure by
Oklahomans of all ages.
When the Library of Congress announced the granting of permission to States to become
part of their program, the Oklahoma Department of Libraries assembled an advisory group
and wrote a proposal. The Oklahoma Center for the Book became the fourth state center
on February 28, 1986.
The Center is governed by a 30-member, volunteer board of directors from across the state.
Gale Bollinger—Oklahoma City
Diane Canavan—Shawnee
David Clark—Norman
Robert L. Clark—Oklahoma City
Aarone Corwin—Midwest City
Kim Doner—Tulsa
Bettie Estes-Rickner—Mustang
Julia Fresonke—Oklahoma City
Ann Hamilton—Edmond
Mort Hamilton—Ardmore
George Henderson—Norman
Joe Holmes—Oklahoma City
Julie Hovis—Edmond
Glenda Madden—Norman
Bill McCloud—Pryor
Lynn McIntosh—Ardmore
Teresa Miller—Tulsa
Anna Myers—Chandler
Marcia Preston—Edmond
Diane Seabass—Tulsa
Dean Sims—Tulsa
Sue Stees—Tulsa
Laurie Sundborg—Tulsa
M.J. Van Deventer—Oklahoma City
John Wooley—Tulsa
William R. Young—Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA
CENTER FOR THE BOOK
Oklahoma Center for the Book
Project Highlights
The Oklahoma Center for the Book in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries has participated
in several events in the past twelve months, and has made commitments for events later
this year.
Kids Caught Reading is an annual activity of the Center, and is part of Oklahoma’s Celebra-tion
of Reading (formerly known as National Young Readers Day). The Center will once again
give $25 prizes to ten students from across the state who are caught reading in their spare
time. The prizes will be presented at the Celebration of Reading on April 7, 2000 at the
Lazy-E Arena.
In another program which involves children, the center is cosponsoring, for the sixth year, the
Letters about Literature competition. Nationally promoted by Weekly Reader and the Center
for the Book in the Library of Congress, students in grades 6 through 12 are asked to write
letters to the author of a book that affected them in some way. The Center awards a total of
$250 to writers of the top five letters.
The Center worked with the Center for Poets and Writers in Tulsa during the Celebration of
Books in September. 1999 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Wallis
was featured in a program about the West with singer Michael Martin Murphy.
The Oklahoma Center for the Book is also providing funds to the Oklahoma Library Associa-tion
to sponsor author George Henderson as keynote speaker during their annual conference,
April 26- 29, 2000.
The Center continues to provide authors to libraries and schools, and plans to initiate an
Oklahoma Authors database on the organization’s website.
The Center's website address is www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb
Previous Oklahoma
Fiction
1990, Robert Love Taylor, The Lost Sister
1991, Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit
1992, Robert L. Duncan, The Serpent's Mark
1993, Rilla Askew, Strange Business
1994, Eve Sandstrom, Down Home Heifer Heist
1995, William Bernhardt, Perfect Justice
1996, Billie Letts, Where the Heart Is
1997, Stewart O’Nan, The Names of the Dead
1998, Rilla Askew, The Mercy Seat
1999, Billie Letts, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon
Non-Fiction
1990, Leonard Leff, Hitchcock & Selznick
1991, Carl Albert and Danney Goble, Little Giant
1992, David Morgan, Robert England, and George Humphreys,
Oklahoma Politics & Policies: Governing the Sooner State
1993, Henry Bellmon and Pat Bellmon, The Life and Times of Henry Bellmon;
and Daniel Boorstin, The Creators
1994, J. Brent Clark, 3rd Down and Forever
1995, Dennis McAuliffe Jr., The Deaths of Sybil Bolton
1996, William Paul Winchester, A Very Small Farm
1997, Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass
1998, John Hope Franklin and John Whittington Franklin,
Editors, My Life and an Era: The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin
1999, Bob Burke, From Oklahoma to Eternity: The Life of Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae
Children/ Young Adult
1990, Helen Roney Sattler, Tyrannosaurus Rex and His Kin
1991, Stan Hoig, A Capitol for the Nation
1992, Jess and Bonnie Speer, Hillback to Boggy
1993, Anna Myers, Red Dirt Jessie
1994, Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, Cherokee Summer
1995, Russell G. Davis and Brent Ashabranner, The Choctaw Code
1996, Anna Myers, Graveyard Girl
1997, Barbara Snow Gilbert, Stone Water
1998, S. L. Rottman, Hero
1999, Barbara Snow Gilbert, Broken Chords
Poetry
1990, William Kistler, The Elizabeth Sequence
1992, Carol Hamilton, Once the Dust
1993, Jim Barnes, The Sawdust War
1994, Carter Revard, An Eagle Nation
1995, Joy Harjo, The Woman Who Fell from the Sky
1996, Francine Leffler Ringold-Johnson, The Trouble with Voices
1997, Renata Treitel, translation of Rosita Copioli’s The Blazing Lights of the Sun
1998, Betty Shipley, Somebody Say Amen
1999, Mark Cox, Thirty-Seven Years from the Stone
Design/ Illustration
1990, David E. Hunt, The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson
1991, Carol Haralson, Cleora's Kitchens
1992, Joe Williams, Woolaroc
1993, Carol Haralson, Will Rogers: Courtship and Correspondence;
and Kandy Radzinski, The Twelve Cats of Christmas
1994, Deloss McGraw, Fish Story
1995, Mike Wimmer, All the Places to Love
1996, Kim Doner, Green Snake Ceremony
1997, Carol Haralson and Harvey Payne, Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass
1998, Carol Haralson, Visions and Voices:
Native American Painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art
1999, David Fitzgerald, Bison: Monarch of the Plains
Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
1990, Daniel Boorstin, Librarian of Congress Emeritus, native of Tulsa
1991, Tony Hillerman, mystery writer, native of Sacred Heart
1992, Savoie Lottinville, Director of the University of Oklahoma Press for 30 years
1993, Harold Keith, Newbery Award winning children's author, Norman
1994, N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize winning Kiowa author, native of Lawton
1995, R.A. Lafferty, Hugo Award winning author, Tulsa
1996, John Hope Franklin, historian, native of Rentiesville
1997, S.E. Hinton, award winning author of young adult novels, Tulsa
1998, Jack Bickham, novelist, teacher and journalist, Norman
1999, Michael Wallis, award-winning historian and biographer, Tulsa
Ralph Ellison Award
1995, Ralph Ellison, National Book Award winner, Oklahoma City
1997, Angie Debo, “First Lady of Oklahoma History,” Marshall
1999, Melvin Tolson, poet, journalist, and dramatist, Langston
Book Award Winners
The Oklahoma Center for the Book wishes to thank
the judges for the 2000 competition:
Dan Blanchard
Mary Ann Blochowiak
David Clark
Evelyn Davis
Bettie Estes-Rickner
Kathryn Fanning
Christopher Givans
Ann Hamilton
Mort Hamilton
Joe Holmes
Gayle Jones
Kathy Latrobe
Louisa McCune
Denis McGilvray
Donna Norvell
Judith Tate O’Brien
Dee Pierce
Kitty Pittman
Byron Price
Diane Seebass
Dewayne Smoot
William Struby
Leah Taylor
James R. Tolbert III
Mary Woodman
The Center acknowledges the generous
contributions of the following
organizations and individuals:
Archives Division, Oklahoma Historical Society
Best of Books, Edmond
Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Dunlap, Codding and Rogers Patent Law Firm
Friends of the Metropolitan Library System
Full Circle Books, Oklahoma City
Joe & Billie Holmes
Metropolitan Library System
National Cowboy Hall of Fame
and Western Heritage Center
Oklahoma City Hilton Hotel Northwest
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Oklahoma Independent Booksellers Association
Steve’s Books, Tulsa
Special thanks to...
Marcia Preston, Ceremony Chair, and.
committee members Gail Bollinger, Liz Codding, Julia
Fresonke, and M.J. Van Deventer
Ann Hamilton, Program Chair and Audio-visual Producer
Public Information Office—Oklahoma Department of Libraries:
Thelma Burchfiel, Bill Petrie, Bill Struby,
and Bill Young
OKLAHOMA
CENTER FOR THE BOOK
200 Northeast 18 Street
Oklahoma City
OK 73105-3298
www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb • 1-800-522-8116

Copyright of this digital resource, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, 2011. For further information regarding use please consult the Copyright and Permissions page, http://www.crossroads.odl.state.ok.us/shell/rights.php or contact the holding institution of the digital resource.